Why Homeschool Moms Should Not Balance It All

There can be this perception that if you homeschool your children, you must have your life together, you can do it all, and balance it all.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

IT’S NOT A BALANCING ACT

I’m a recovering people-pleaser, perfectionist and overachiever.

I have high expectations of myself.

No matter what I do, it has to be done well at whatever cost. It can be good and seen as sacrificial to myself or others, but it can also be dangerous.

Either I feel like I should be able to balance it all, or others somehow think that I can because I’m doing it all, including homeschooling my children.

Let’s define balance as it relates to life:

a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc. (Source)

WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT BALANCE?

Did Jesus say that life is about balance?

Is there a specific call or gift that each of us possesses giving us the ability to keep life in balance?

Jesus’ life is an example worth looking at:

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit…(Mark 5:1-2)

Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea. And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet…(Mark 5:21-22)

To me, life is not happening in balance here for Jesus.

In Mark 5 (which is just a small part of scripture), people are waiting or hardly waiting for Jesus to come out of the boat. They are eager to have him back asking Him to help with their need.

What is Jesus to do?

Should He have checked His schedule to see if it was an proper time? Or perhaps it wasn’t on the schedule, so should He have done it at all? If life is about balance, and Jesus isn’t experiencing a balanced life here according to the Word, then was He living life the best way He could have?

LET IT GO

What does it look like to you to have a balanced life?

The idea of schedules, routine and predictability brings ease. But, if we aren’t able to adapt to change and re-route, or go with the flow, we will constantly be disappointed with ourselves and others.

THE UNEXPECTED

When your child isn’t feeling well on a particular day, are you able to continue balancing your life? Have a meal on the table, do the laundry and homeschool because your schedule says this is what the day looks like and it’s balanced?

NO! Absolutely not.

Your child is unwell; it wasn’t scheduled, it wasn’t planned, and you cannot balance the day.

What happens when you have one child not feeling well, and the other three children are awaiting the homeschool day to continue. What are your other children to do now?! They may feel like you’re not doing what you said. Some kids have a personality that is more flexible, but some live off of predictability.

As a mom, you’ll first need to be okay with the change of the day. And let’s be honest, that can be the biggest battle – is overcoming our ideas of what the day was to look like.

Next, you can take the opportunity to teach your children that sometimes life doesn’t go your way; that disappointment exists, and that it doesn’t need to affect the rest of your day or others around you. In fact, you have an opportunity to embrace change.

It’s so important to take our children on the journey of trusting God through what’s going on. When a day is not going as planned, you can pray together as a family, trusting God and believing Him for a change of day in your hearts – because that’s where the change needs to occur the most.

LIVE LIFE IN SEASONS

Instead of looking at life like it’s something to be balanced, we can look at life in seasons.

Seasons come and go. In seasons, there’s unexpected weather, nothing’s meant to last, and there’s always something new on the horizon.

The Word of God says,

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. (Daniel 2:21)

Homeschool moms should not balance it all, but instead live in seasons.

Embracing life in seasons makes change easier, too. I have recognized that I’m constantly letting go of control and surrendering my life, my children, our family and our homeschool to the Lord.

And, I’ve also decided that being a homeschool mom does not make me a candidate for balancing it all.

Do you expect yourself to balance it all? Do you live your life in seasons? I’d love to hear from you!!